The present invention is directed to a gardening tool and, more specifically, to a gardening tool having a scoop disposed at one end of the tool, a blade or cutter disposed at an opposite end and a handle disposed along a longitudinal axis of the gardening tool offset from the scoop and cutter.
Gardening requires digging and the movement of topsoil for the planting of seeds and seedlings and the planting or transplanting of plants. While long handle shovels are acceptable for moving large quantities of dirt and digging deep holes, hand held spades and scoops are normally used for digging shallow holes for planting smaller plants, seedlings and seeds. Often times during digging a hole for planting a plant or seeding or digging a row or furrow for planting seeds, a root of a tree or bush is encountered which obstructs the gardener from completing the hole or furrow in the desired location. Typically, a gardener may resort to use a long handle shovel or hoe to sever the obstructing root. However, this requires the gardener to put down the spade or scoop, stand up from a kneeling position, pick up the shovel or hoe, use the shovel or hoe while. standing to cut the root, and then kneel down to resume using the hand held spade or scoop.
What is needed is a multi-purpose gardening tool that permits a gardener to both dig a hole or furrow and cut a root, while maintaining a kneeling position. What is also needed is a multi-purpose gardening tool that permits both digging and cutting to be accomplished without changing the grip of the gardener on the gardening tool. What is further needed is a multi-purpose gardening tool that is designed to protect the gardener""s gripping hand while using the gardening tool for as either digging or cutting.
The present invention features a multi-purpose gardening tool. In a first preferred embodiment of the multi-purpose gardening tool of the present invention, the tool includes a central base or body portion. Extending from one end of the base is an arcuate scoop adapted to dig into, scoop up and transport a quantity of topsoil, mulch or other material. Extending from an opposite end of the base is a substantially V-shaped cutter or blade having a sharpened peripheral edge for cutting through roots, small branches, thistles, vines, prying up smaller buried rocks or breaking up compacted soil. In one preferred embodiment, the base is comprised of an arcuate steel plate and the scoop, and cutter are welded to the base and all three components have a common radius of curvature for a smooth profile.
The tool includes a handle extending generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the tool and offset from the scoop and cutter. The handle is supported by the base and, in one preferred embodiment is supported by a pair of spaced apart supports affixed to an upper surface of the base and extending upwardly from the base. The handle is affixed to the supports. In one preferred embodiment the supports comprise circular or disk shaped steel members welded to the upper surface of the base. The radius of the steel disk supports conform to the radius of curvature of the base. The handle extends between the steel disk supports and the handle is affixed to the steel disk supports with screws.
The handle is offset from the working edges of the scoop and cutter, that is, the handle is offset from a line of action through the working or peripheral edges of the scoop and cutter this helps protect the gardener""s gripping hand from branches, roots, thistles and the like that may be sticking upwardly at an angle that would otherwise poke, cut or dig into the gardener""s hand as the tool is being used. Further protection to the gardener""s hand is afforded by the steel disk supports which extend from the base to the handle and function to deflect branches, roots, thistles and the like that would otherwise poke into the gardener""s fingers as the tool is being used. Advantageously, with the garden tool of the present invention, the gardener may alternate between using the scoop for digging and using the cutter for cutting and chopping without changing his or her grip on the handle. This saves valuable time compared with using two separate hand-held tools, e.g., using a spade for digging and using a hatchet or hoe for cutting roots.
In an alternate preferred embodiment of the present invention, a single steel disk support may be used to support one end of the handle. The other end of the handle may be supported by an arcuate or U-shaped bracket. The bracket may comprise a flat, arcuate piece of metal, an arcuate rod or any appropriate structure that may be attached to the handle and upper edges of the base to provide support for the second end of the handle while the disk support is used to support the first end of the handle. Advantageously, the disk support would be positioned on the cutter side of the base such that the gardener""s hand would be protected when using the cutter. Greater power and speed of the tool would generally be used when using the cutter than when using the scoop, e.g., a powerful swing of the gardener""s arm may be needed to cut thick roots with the cutter. Therefore, it would be more important to provide additional protection to the gardener""s hand afforded by the disk support when the cutter is being used. The use of a single disk support also results in a greater material carrying capacity of the scoop.